Political economy is a subfield of the social sciences that focuses on the way in which power relations, political conflict, government policy, interest groups, and political institutions shape economic behavior and economic outcomes. Individuals have many identities (political, economic, social) and are subject to numerous forms of authority. Economic authority is most often thought of highly decentralized while political authority comes from above. As such, departing from traditional economics, political economy assumes economic outcomes are not simply the result of resources and market forces, but also from political forces that shape outcomes through government policy.